What term is used when a criminal is required to pay back a victim directly?

Restitution refers specifically to the legal obligation of a criminal to compensate the victim for the losses or damages that resulted from their criminal actions. This payment can cover various types of losses, including medical expenses, property damage, or lost wages. The goal of restitution is to make the victim whole again, as much as possible, by ensuring they receive financial compensation that addresses their suffering due to the crime.

Rehabilitation, on the other hand, focuses on reforming the offender so they can reintegrate into society successfully, and does not involve direct payments to victims. Reparation can sometimes refer to compensation, but it is often used in broader contexts, such as reparations for historical injustices, rather than the direct victim-offender relationship. Recidivism, meanwhile, discusses the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend or relapse into criminal behavior, which is completely unrelated to the concept of compensating a victim. Therefore, restitution is the most accurate term to describe the requirement for a criminal to pay back a victim directly.